Key West The Newspaper

A prominent doctor from Miami was arrested today in connection with an elderly abuse case in the Florida Keys which has been under investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit and other state and federal agencies since November.
The doctor is 66 year old Raul Arcadio Tamayo. He was arrested this morning [June 5, 2017] at his Miami Beach home, charged with two counts of neglect of an elderly or disabled adult. Bond was set at $200,000. The caregiver who worked under his supervision is 47 year old Amarylis Maristan. She is currently wanted on the same charges.

Together, they are accused of knowingly operating two unlicensed elderly living facilities in Monroe County; one at 173 Ocean Drive in Plantation Key from April 2016 until October 2016 and one at 8 Avenue B in Key Largo from October 2016 until December 2016.

Dr. Tamayo is accused of failing to provide care for the elderly patients at the facilities and for falsifying records to indicate he was providing care. He is accused of knowing the facilities were unlicensed, and of knowing the woman who supervised the facilities was not medically trained in any way. Investigators say he was being paid by Medicare for services he was not providing. The investigation is continuing into possible Medicare fraud.

Maristan is accused of knowingly operating an unlicensed facility and not providing appropriate and necessary medical treatment to the patients under her care.

Investigations revealed the two suspects cared for six elderly female patients over the age of 80, all with chronic and acute medical conditions requiring medical care and multiple prescription medications. All the patients were bed or wheelchair bound, were diagnosed with memory loss or dementia and were incontinent. The majority of them were found to have urinary tract infections and bed sores when they were seen by medical professionals subsequent to being found in the unlicensed facility.

The investigation began after Major Crimes Detective Bob Dosh responded on November 30th to a report of possible elderly abuse along with an investigator from the Florida Department of Children and Families. DCF had received a complaint from Mariner’s Hospital in Tavernier after an elderly woman was brought into the hospital in cardiac arrest, covered in urine with severe bed sores, some infected. The 85 year old victim was revived and transferred to Homestead Hospital for treatment where she died the following day. Autopsy results later showed she died of “complications of septic shock due to pneumonia”. Investigations revealed at the time of her death she was underweight, suffered from malnutrition and had been suffering from seizures. Dr. Tamayo was reportedly aware of this history of seizures and had billed the government for seizure medication which was never given to the victim.

The woman’s caregiver, Maristan, was interviewed at the time the woman was brought to the hospital. She gave permission for the investigators to enter her residence, where the victim had been cared for prior being taken to the hospital. Inside the residence, at 8 Avenue B in Key Largo, the investigators found numerous mattresses against the walls and four more elderly females. The remaining elderly women were transported to Mariner’s Hospital and then to a legitimate licensed care facility.

Maristan was asked if a doctor was caring for the elderly victim. She said the victim was seen by Doctor Tamayo, who she said would make house calls to the facility and prescribe medications as needed for the elderly people at the facility.

Investigations revealed the elderly care facility being operated by Maristan was not a licensed care facility and that Maristan did not have any form of professional medical training. Further investigation revealed the elderly victim was not being treated for her severe bed sores, nor was she being treated for the pneumonia she ultimately died from.

According to the press release issued by the Monroe County Sheriff’s office this morning, investigations further revealed Dr. Tamayo falsified medical records to show the victim was being seen in person by the doctor. After the elderly patients still at the facility were removed and examined, a second victim was found with untreated Pneumonia and untreated Parkinson’s disease. The doctor admitted to investigators he was responsible for medical supervision at the two facilities; he also admitted to knowing Maristan was unlicensed and untrained.

Tamayo was taken into custody this morning at his home in Miami. Detective Dosh and other investigators say they are currently looking for Maristan.

Other agencies investigating include the Florida Department Children and Families, the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Florida Department of Health’s Medical Quality Assurance Unit, the Miami Dade Police Department Medical Crimes Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General.

Anyone with information about where she is should contact the Sheriff’s Office immediately at 305-853-3211. Callers who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers of the Florida Keys. If a Crime Stoppers tip leads to an arrest, the caller would be eligible for a cash reward. The Crime Stoppers hot line number is 1-800-346-TIPS. Tips may be made anonymously on line at www.tipsubmit.com or via a text message to 274637 using the keyword TIP136.

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Note: Information in this crime report was provided by Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. Please remember that all suspects are innocent until proven guilty.